


covalent

by magicianprince



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-30
Updated: 2013-08-30
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:40:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/947106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianprince/pseuds/magicianprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei catches Nagisa by the crook of the elbow after swim practice on a Wednesday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	covalent

Rei catches Nagisa by the crook of the elbow after swim practice on a Wednesday.

“May I speak with you?” he says.

He hopes that his tone of voice is firm enough. Kou and Makoto and Haruka are just leaving, and Nagisa had been following behind them before Rei had stopped him.

Nagisa turns and looks at Rei curiously. “Sure!” he says, shifting his bag more comfortably over his shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

At the gate, Makoto and Kou glance back at them. Haruka’s eyes are on the unbroken surface of the pool, as usual. Rei gives them a nervous smile and ducks his head in a short, jerky nod to indicate that there’s no trouble, and Makoto and Kou smile back and leave, Haruka trailing after.

Rei lets go of Nagisa’s arm, straightens his stance. He’s never confessed his romantic inclinations towards anyone, but he’s already formed a rough outline of what he wants to say: first, he’ll list Nagisa’s good points. Following that, he’ll highlight the pros and cons of accepting Rei’s confession, and then finally he’ll face whatever method of replying Nagisa decides to offer to him. He doesn’t know if he would have taken this risk, before Iwatobi Swim Club—too many variables, no definite outcome. Rei clenches his shaking fingers in the straps of his backpack. It feels heavy on his shoulders.

“Rei-chan?” says Nagisa.

“I…recently…” Rei’s face feels too hot. Nagisa is staring up at him, brow creased, _worried_ , and everything Rei had been planning to say to him slips from his mind like dripping, melted glass. “I…”

Nagisa leans closer, invading his personal space.

“I like you,” says Rei in one rush of air and then Nagisa is leaning back into his own space again, eyes wide and mouth gone slack with surprise.

“ _Oh_ ,” says Nagisa.

Rei panics. “I—I understand that it may be odd between fellow teammates, and we are both male, and you may think of me only as a friend, but if—“

“Okay.”

With one word, everything around Rei comes to a clear, shuddering halt. “What?”

“Okay,” repeats Nagisa, grinning from ear to ear, “Let’s date, Rei-chan.”

:

Science is full of equations. Alongside the unknowns and unproven theories there are finite values, numbers you will find only if x and y are also correct. To produce an ionic bond, one atom must give up a certain number of electrons to another.

Riding the train home in shocked silence, Rei takes comfort in calculating over and over again the velocity of the earth’s rotation, slow and sure and steady.

:

It occurs to Rei that, walking into school the next day, he has no idea what to expect.

Nagisa has been physically affectionate with him from the start. He is with all of the people he knows, whether they are childhood friends or strangers in the track club he happens to take an interest in. That’s simply the way he is, and Rei is not sure if Nagisa will act differently towards him after Rei’s confession yesterday. They’re in separate classes. Rei’s speculations stick with him until lunchtime. Nagisa smiles up at him from beside Makoto and Haruka as Rei closes the door to the rooftop behind him.

“Rei-chan!” he greets.

“Hello, Rei,” says Makoto, serene as usual. Haruka says nothing but gives Rei a slight nod as he opens his bento.

Rei can’t help but smile—he’s glad that he’s allowed to be here, with these people. “Hello, Makoto-senpai, Haruka-senpai.” His eyes trail over to settle on Nagisa, who pats the space beside him enthusiastically. “Nagisa-kun.”

Besides their group, there are generally one or two others who frequent the rooftop for lunch. Today, there are three. This doesn’t stop Nagisa from burrowing into Rei’s side the moment Rei sits down, forcing Rei to lift his arm up and rest it across Nagisa’s shoulders. Seemingly, Nagisa’s reputation precedes him, as no one, including Makoto or Haruka, bats an eye. Rei relaxes.

The ends of Nagisa’s hair are tickling Rei’s chin. Rei doesn’t see how he will be able to eat with only one hand, but he’ll try.

:

All in all, their relationship doesn’t feel much different. Nagisa still encourages Rei to try new, crazy things and Rei more often than not ends up enjoying them. Rei still struggles to convince Nagisa that his grades in math are just as important as his grades in history are and that he should at least browse the textbook every once in a while, if not actually sit down and study.

Rei still looks at Nagisa, sometimes, and wonders.

:

“We are dating, right?” he asks a week later, without really meaning to.

Nagisa puts down his pencil. Rei’s parents aren’t home; the house around them is silent. “Of course!” he says, confusion turning the lilt of his mouth downwards. “You like me, and I like you. I thought we decided that last week.”

Bending back over his own work with embarrassingly flushed cheeks—Nagisa had been so _sure_ —Rei mutters, quietly: “Okay.”

:

Nagisa has actually studied for this math test. He drags Rei along with him to a shrine in order to pray for his success, clinging to his hand the entire way. Rei presses their palms closer together and hopes that Nagisa doesn’t notice. Naturally, Nagisa misses nothing, and squeezes his hand, grinning up at him fondly.

“Thanks for coming with me, Rei-chan,” he says.

“Of course,” replies Rei. Nagisa squeezes his hand again.

“Ahh,” he sighs. “I worked really hard. If I do well, I hope Rei-chan will praise me.”

“Of—of course,” Rei stammers. Nagisa hums happily to himself until they reach the shrine.

He prays, and afterwards, the two of them sit on steps older than the two of them combined, shivering slightly in the autumn air. Nagisa tells him the life story of a war general who died thirty years ago, and Rei explains how to combine substances into alloys. Gradually, the conversation trails off into silence. Rei is surprised to find that it’s not uncomfortable. The corners of his lips tilt upwards.

Nagisa presses his fingers to Rei’s mouth.

“Sorry,” he says a moment later, retracting his hand with a sheepish grin.

“It’s fine,” Rei says hurriedly.

“You didn’t seem like the type of person who would smile a lot when I first met you,” continues Nagisa, casual and conversational. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

His hair is still slightly mussed from sleep, residual bedhead evident in the way the ends of his bangs curl. Rei doesn’t realize he’s leaning closer until Nagisa angles his face up towards him eagerly, fingers catching on Rei’s sleeve. He hesitates, and Nagisa breathes out against his mouth.

Rei kisses him.

:

Nagisa’s kisses are soft. Rei has nothing to compare them to, but he finds that even if he did, he would be biased. He especially likes that he only has to bend slightly in order for their mouths to meet and that Nagisa only has to look up in order to meet him; it means that they both want to be there, that they both want what the other has to offer. Rei compares their kisses to covalent bonds and flushes. His mind is made up of mathematics, not cheesy sentimentality.

Nagisa would most likely say it was made up of both.

:

Every other Thursday, after school, Rei makes a point of asking Nagisa out to eat. The first time, he hadn’t been able to decide who would pay—and as easily as he does anything, Nagisa requests separate checks. It’s a simple solution, and feels perfectly comfortable.

The third time, Rei dares to call it a date. Nagisa leans over the table, takes Rei’s face into his hands, and kisses him squarely on the mouth.

:

This is not the first time Rei has stayed over at Nagisa’s house but it’s the first time they’ve done _this_ : laid down on Nagisa’s wide, cushioned bed, chatting aimlessly and waiting for the house to be silent and dark so that Rei can roll over on top of Nagisa, supporting himself on his elbows. Nagisa makes a gleeful sound in the back of his throat and pulls him down for a kiss. Rei opens his mouth to him instantly, shivers from his core, and lets Nagisa lick into his mouth.

Nagisa’s hands are in his hair. Rei moves one hand to cup Nagisa’s cheek, changes the angle of the kiss. He doesn’t know how long they stay in that position before Nagisa is sliding his hand down, caressing across Rei’s back, and slipping his fingers up under Rei’s shirt. His palm is too warm on Rei’s skin. Everything about the air around them feels too warm and Rei suddenly loses his nerve and pulls back, flustered, and presses his forehead to Nagisa’s.

Nagisa’s eyes are closed and he doesn’t notice that Rei’s nervous, at first, only sighs and lets his palm glide over to rest on Rei’s back. He arches up and something inside Rei squirms.

“I—I’m not sure—“

Eyes sluggishly sliding open, Nagisa processes the uncertain look on Rei’s face and sags back into the mattress, withdraws his hand from under Rei’s clothing. “Sorry, Rei-chan,” he says, huffing a shamefaced laugh.

Rei reaches up and adjusts his glasses. “I…I don’t mind if—you want to…but I—“

Running his fingers through the hair at the nape of Rei’s neck, Nagisa scrunches up his nose, untangling the meaning behind the faltering words. “Do you want to watch me, then?” he inquires, finally.

“That would be—acceptable,” Rei concedes. Nagisa nods reassuringly and smiles, lets Rei sink back onto his knees so that Nagisa can spread his legs further apart. He watches Rei carefully as he tugs the fly of his pants open.

Nagisa reaches through the slit in his boxers and pulls out his cock. Rei doesn’t realize he’s staring until Nagisa exhales his name, wrapping his fingers around himself. Instantly Rei whips his head up and looks at Nagisa’s face instead. Grinning, Nagisa catches his lower lip with his teeth and moans, for his benefit. Rei’s face is so red he thinks he might explode.

A moment later Nagisa moans for real, and Rei looks down.

“ _Rei_ ,” says Nagisa, sounding like all the air in his lungs is seeping out through his skin, into the stifling heat surrounding them.

His hand is jerking over his own erection in experienced, precise movements. “I’m watching,” Rei promises, breathless. Nagisa makes a small sound at the back of his throat and arches into his fist, rolling his hips, and Rei is transfixed.

When Nagisa comes it’s with a drawn out groan, mouth open, fingers digging furrows into the sheets. He keeps his eyes on Rei feverishly, and his cheeks are stained darker pink than Rei has ever seen them.

The sight is beautiful.

:

Nagisa rarely gets angry—Rei used to be able to count on one hand the times he’s seen Nagisa truly incensed. He supposes he’ll have to use two, now.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” he says.

Nagisa, beside him, frowns deeper, if that’s even possible. “You can’t just let people insult you like that,” he says heatedly.

“He wasn’t insulting me,” protests Rei. He’s glad that he dragged Nagisa out of the classroom before any real confrontation had started.

“He was standing over your desk and calling you weird, and other things like that, and his friends were standing behind him and laughing,” Nagisa mutters.

It had been less like laughing and more like muffled giggling, but Rei had been too busy trying to put the finishing touches on his homework to take much notice. “I don’t know why you’re so upset,” he says, and feels genuinely confused. He _doesn’t_ know why Nagisa is so upset.

“You wanted them to leave you alone,” says Nagisa. It’s not phrased as a question.

“Yes,” says Rei. “They were ruining my concentration.”

Nagisa glances over at him, surprised. “You weren’t upset by what they were saying?”

“I wasn’t really paying attention,” admits Rei.

The two of them sit in silence for a few seconds. Anger slowly evaporating, Nagisa shakes his head, grin loaded with disbelief. “Only you,” he says, but it doesn’t seem like an offence. “I’m still coming by to check on you a lot, okay?”

“Alright,” says Rei, trying not to appear too pleased.

:

Haruka figures it out first. Rei isn’t sure how long he’s known, but it must have been for a long time.

“Don’t hang all over me like that,” Haruka tells Nagisa, who is currently snuggled into his arm and making blissful noises, limbs encircling Haruka’s waist. “You’ll make Rei jealous.” If Haruka knows then presumably Makoto does, too. Haruka wouldn’t breathe a word of it but they have that strange sort of telepathy, or whatever it is.

Rei takes a deep breath.

“It’s fine, Haruka-senpai,” he says. “I don’t mind.”

Haruka eyes him speculatively, and then nods. He pats Nagisa’s head gently and returns to watching his feet sway in the water.

:

The next to find out is Kou. It’s entirely Nagisa’s fault for kissing Rei in the locker room where anyone can see, but it’s maybe Rei’s fault, too, for reeling him in for another.

:

Once everyone knows, Nagisa has no problem with holding his hand during swim practice at every opportunity, even as Rei is trying to explain very seriously that he’s going to try and work at swimming something other than the butterfly stroke. Makoto instantly volunteers his support, with Kou following close behind and Haruka stating that he’s fine with it. Nagisa looks up at him with a grin.

“When should we start?” he asks.

The endeavor shows no sign of progress even after a week. Butterfly is what Rei is somehow inherently best at. He takes to sitting by the poolside and staring at the water mournfully, questioning what other sorts of exercises there are that will allow him orient himself in the water more dynamically.

“Make up the Rei-chan stroke,” Nagisa suggests, settling in beside him. Rei sighs and lists to the side; Nagisa takes his weight without complaint, picking up Rei’s hand and playing with his fingers. “I love your hands,” he says.

“Thank you,” Rei replies, tiredly.

“Remember when you confessed to me?”

Rei does, and he murmurs an affirmation. It’s been a long day, and he’s drowsy with it, but he’s still listening.

“You had your hands all bunched up in your backpack straps. It was so cute I thought my heart was leaping out of my chest,” says Nagisa.

The day was Wednesday, Rei remembers. “Oh,” he says, embarrassed.

“Don’t be embarrassed! I was planning on confessing to you soon, too, so you kind of beat me to it.”

Rei sits up at that, turns to peer at him incredulously. “You were?”

Nagisa gazes right back at him and he looks so happy that Rei can’t help but grin, feeling warm all over. “Of course,” he says. “Of course.”

:

Rei stays the night at Nagisa’s house again. As soon as they’re able, Nagisa presses him into the sheets and kisses him silly, languid and unhurried.

It’s a long while before sleep settles itself over either of them.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is a jumbled mess but so are my feelings for this godsend of a ship. have a good night everyone


End file.
